Saturday, April 02, 2016

Many practitioners of ‘complementary and alternative
medicine’ such as homeopathy claim and seek that the State should support those
treatments financially. One such unorthodox medical model was in fact sponsored
by a government, not due to a proven track record but inspired by political
necessity. Mao Zedong explained his support for Traditional Chinese Medicine
(TCM) in a 1950 speech:

‘Our nation’s health work teams are large. They have to
concern themselves with over 500 million people [including the] young, old, and
ill. … At present, doctors of Western medicine are few, and thus the broad
masses of the people, and in particular the peasants, rely on Chinese medicine
to treat illness. Therefore, we must strive for the complete unification of
Chinese medicine.’ (From Kim Taylor’s Chinese Medicine in Early Communist
China, 1945-1963: A Medicine of Revolution.)

Of course, this improvised health service was not suffice
for the Chinese Communist Party leadership, themselves.

‘Even though I believe we should promote Chinese medicine. I
personally do not believe in it. I don’t take Chinese medicine.’ Mao is quoted
as saying. (In the Private Life of Chairman Mao by Li Zhisui, one of Mao’s
personal physicians)

Inconsistent texts and idiosyncratic practices had to be
standardised. Textbooks were written that portrayed Chinese medicine as a
theoretical and practical whole, and they were taught in newly founded
academies of so-called ‘Traditional Chinese Medicine.’ Needless to say, the
academies were anything but traditional, striving valiantly to ‘scientify’ the
teachings of the accepted ‘wisdom’ that often contradicted one another and
themselves. The belief running through all aspects of TCM is the notion of qi,
an energy life-force that flows through everything. Science-based medicine does
not recognise qi energy because there is no convincing empirical evidence that
such a thing exists. Nor is there any evidence for the alleged meridians or
channels in the body where qi flows that can become blocked and which can be
unblocked through acupuncture to allow qi to flow freely and restore health.

TCM advocates point to the thousands of herbs and plants
used in treatments and it has never been disputed that a great number of these
do have health benefits. However what is
surprising from those proponents of TCM in the West is the silence about the
use of animal parts. Throughout Asia,
thousands of bears are kept in tiny cages their entire lives so that their gall
bladders can be tapped for bile. Bear bile has always been a popular ingredient
in TCM and is used for many ailments from hemorrhoids to hepatitis. Because
only small amounts of bile are used in TCM, there is now a surplus of bear bile
so bear farmers have also begun producing shampoo, wine, tea, and throat
lozenges containing bile.

Extraction of a bear’s bile is done in a process called
‘milking,’ which is performed twice daily. A catheter is surgically implanted
into the bear’s abdomen. Veterinarians rarely perform this surgery, which
results in roughly half of the bears dying from infections or other
complications. Bile is then drained from the catheter and collected by the
farmer. Milking begins at age three, and continues for a minimum of five to ten
years. Some bears who have been rescued were found in cages producing bile for
twenty years or more. The Chinese government banned the use of the catheter
method of bile collection in favor of the ‘free drip’ method which involves
surgery to create an open hole in the bear’s abdomen through which bile freely
drips out. This was touted as more humane, yet is as inhumane for bile often
leaks into the bear’s abdomen, which increases rates of infection and
mortality. Farmers have trouble keeping the hole open. This results in more
painful surgery, and often the implantation of a small catheter to keep the
hole permanently open. The filthy conditions on most farms lead the bears to
suffer from further infections, worms, and other parasites. The bears’ muscles
atrophy from confinement in such small cages for the duration of their lives.
They are also extremely malnourished from a diet of grain mash or porridge, and
their teeth and claws are often removed to prevent injuries to the farmers.

Overall, the worldwide trade in bear parts, including bile,
is estimated to be a $2 billion industry. Research from 2007 shows its
profitability: while the wholesale price of bile powder is around US$410 per kg
in China, the retail price increases exponentially to 25 to 50 fold in South
Korea, and to 80 fold in Japan. The
demand for animal products continues to grow as the worldwide interest in
‘alternative’ medicine grows. The impact of TCM goes well beyond bears and as
we know affects tigers and rhinos, amongst many other animal species.